The Planning

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This is really going to happen, isn’t it?

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That is what my wife said when she finally realized that this fantasy trip was actually going to happen. It was a very big undertaking. One that I am glad is over . . . Our planning for this trip began two years prior to our actual start date. That was when we decided to actually move forward with our fantasy island trip. We sat down, picked the islands and decided on which cruise company to use.  We actually had to build the trip around the cruise as it would have been a lot harder to put together the first five weeks and hope that the cruise would fit our plans. It was much easier to plan the cruise and then build backwards. We had to consider the route we would take through the islands, and since Oahu is the hub for just about every airline and cruise line it stood to reason we should start there. It would also prove to be the most economical.  We booked the cruise as soon as we were able to book it which was about 18 months out. It ensured that we had our pick of rooms even though it would cost us more. Everyone knows that the closer to your actual cruise the cheaper the fare. Oh Well!

 

We started watching the airfare at about 12 months prior to our actual leave date. The discount finally came at about 8 months out during Thanksgiving week of 2005 and we proceeded to book each leg of our trip over the 4 day weekend.  We handed out an open invitation to all our friends, family, and people in our choir to join us in April 2005 and had a large BBQ gathering for all those that showed interest a month later. We had 18 openings and Initially began with a waiting list which was quickly resolved as the months ticked closer to our departure date.

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We started scouring the Internet for places to stay in October of 2005 and begin submitting deposits on rentals in November. We had initially hoped to use our timeshare but because we were looking for 3 & 4 bedroom condos had to give up that idea as only one and two bedrooms were the only ones available. We ultimately ended up renting through Home Away, and other online sites to secure places on each of the five islands.

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Our plans included golfing, swimming with dolphins, scuba diving, golfing, flumin’ a ditch, hiking a volcano, enjoying a luau, and that’s just the first week! It sounds like a lot but none of those things mentioned take all day so there would plenty of time to enjoy all that and more!

We started packing about a month before our departure date with stuff actually beginning to land in the suitcase about a week prior. We even took scuba diving lessons and made a few practice dives in the pool before packing all our gear. The real challenge was trying to keep under one airlines 50lb weight limit. The rest of the airlines on this trip had restrictions that were not near as strict but that was because the planes were much larger. We met with all the people who would join us on our journey at least 3 times to make plans and finalize all the activities we would take part in while there. We were even able to book and prepay about half of our activities which is much easier even though your not as free to be spontaneous

when you want to be. However, we tried to limit our activities to one a day, leaving the rest of each day free to do whatever we wanted. The activities ranged from a couple of hours to most of the day so our free time varied as well.

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So after nearly two years of planning the day of July 8th finally arrived. Smooth sailing was just ahead but not before we would have to cancel a condo and find last minute housing, deal with kidney stones 3 days before our trip, and find a sitter for our dog who became diabetic 6

months before we left and now required twice a day injections. So if your intrigued, then just click on the "Week 1 - Hawaii" map at the top of this page and prepare to immerse yourself in a journal with photos of our six week adventure in the Islands! Most of all we hope you enjoy our trip!